The Italian banking group Unicredit has assessed Slovenia's GDP growth in last year at 2.5%, while projecting that the country's economy will expand this year by 1.8%, which is one of the most optimistic forecast for Slovenia to date.
The growth in Slovenia is powered not only to exports but also to domestic demand, which is why the stability of the internal market is important, Unicredit analyst Matteo Ferazzi told the press in Vienna on Wednesday.
Only the government forecaster IMAD is more optimistic than Unicredit, as it has projected 2% growth, while other institutions are more pessimistic.
The central bank has projected growth for this year of 1.3%, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 1.4%, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) 1.75%, the European Commission 1.7% and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) of 1.6%.
At the press conference held on the sidelines of a two-day Euromoney conference, Unicredit officials noted that Turkey is expected to record the highest growth in the region (3.4%), while Ukraine is to suffer the biggest contraction (-4.6%).
UniCredit Deputy General Manager Gianni Franco Papa spoke about lending activity, assessing that the volume of loans to households in Slovenia will increase this year for the first time in five years, by 2%.
The volume of loans to companies is also expected to increase by 2% after decreasing last year by 15%.
Bank deposits in Slovenia were up by 10.4% last year over the year before, and are expected to grow a further 1.4% this year, according to Franco Papa.
Source: SloveniaTimes
